The FBI is investigating what it said is an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump at his Florida golf club, the second time in two months there’s been an apparent attempt on the former president’s life.
Trump is safe and was not harmed in the incident, his campaign said.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said during a Sunday news conference that his office was informed at 1.30pm local time (3.30am AEST) of shots fired by the Secret Service, when agents fired at a man who had a rifle in the bushes along the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club.
Trump had been playing golf at the time, moving between holes five and six, a source briefed on the matter told CNN.
A Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of the fence of the golf course and “immediately engaged” with the person, Bradshaw said.
The agent who spotted the rifle, Bradshaw said, is part of a team that stays a hole or two ahead of Trump on the course.
The person was 275 metres to 450 metres away from Trump, an official said.
The person fled the scene in a car and was spotted by a witness, which ultimately helped law enforcement officials locate the vehicle driving north on I-95 in Martin County, one county to the north of Palm Beach.
“We are able to catch a witness that came to us and said, ‘Hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes, he jumped into a black Nissan and I took a picture of the vehicle and the tag,’ which was great,” Bradshaw said.
Authorities alerted the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, which detained the person. The witness was able to then identify the man.
David Aronberg, State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, said the suspect said nothing as he was detained.
“He knew enough to stay silent,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Sunday evening.
“He did not apparently speak to officers, he was calm. So, it looked like a person who has done this before, not necessarily this crime, but someone who has had repeated interactions with law enforcement.”
The person in custody in connection with the apparent attempted assassination is Ryan Wesley Routh, according to three law enforcement sources.
The self-employed affordable housing builder in Hawaii went on social media to weigh in on politics and current events, at times criticising the former president, and expressed strong support for Ukraine.
The FBI’s investigation has gone global as officials work to flesh out his background, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Some of Routh’s suspected online activity also involved the use of platforms headquartered outside the United Stated, the source said, which will involve working with international partners to identify everything the FBI possibly can about the detained individual.
Officials said an AK-47-style rifle with a scope; two backpacks that were hung on the fence and had ceramic tile in them; and a GoPro camera were recovered at the scene.
The holes Trump was playing when the incident occurred are on the eastern edge of the golf course.
Trump had no public events on his schedule for Sunday, and his golf game was a last-minute addition to his itinerary, two sources familiar with the matter said.
The apparent assassination attempt at Trump’s golf course in Florida comes two months after an assassination attempt against the former president at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally that sparked scrutiny of the US Secret Service.
“Former President Donald Trump is safe and unharmed following a possible attempted assassination shortly before 2pm Sunday at Trump International Golf Club at West Palm Beach. US Secret Service personnel opened fire on a gunman located near the property line,” Rafael Barros, the Secret Service special agent in charge of the Miami field office, said in a statement.
Ronald Rowe, acting director of the US Secret Service, is travelling to Florida in the wake of the incident, a law enforcement source familiar with the matter told CNN.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Sunday that his state would conduct its own investigation of the apparent thwarted assassination attempt.
And the congressional task force that’s investigating the first attempted assassination of the former president is requesting a briefing with the Secret Service following Sunday’s incident.
‘No place for political violence’
Trump’s campaign said in a statement earlier in the day that the former president “is safe following gunshots in his vicinity”.
Trump — who had been golfing with donor Steve Witkoff, according to a source familiar with the matter — soon assured supporters that he was safe, too.
“There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!” Trump wrote in a fundraising email that afternoon.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been briefed on the security incident involving Trump and they are both “relieved to know that he is safe,” according to the White House.
“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday evening.
Harris echoed Biden’s support for the Secret Service having “every resource, capability, and protective measure necessary to carry out its critical mission” in her own statement released by the White House.
“I am deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today,” she said.
“As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence.”
Biden and Harris, both of whom are in Washington, DC, with no public events on Sunday, will be kept updated by their team.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has also been briefed, according to Department of Justice spokesperson Dena Iverson.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, wrote on X later Sunday that the former president is in “good spirits”.
“I’m glad President Trump is safe. I spoke to him before the news was public and he was, amazingly, in good spirits,” Vance said.
“He is one of the strongest people I’ve ever known,” South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham posted.
“He’s in good spirits and he is more resolved than ever to save our country,” the Trump ally wrote.
